Chapter 49 Lonely Ending
"Why did you come at this critical moment to offend me? I want to see who is so good at choosing a day!" Lu Tingxiang said angrily, "Don't fight the government, let them lead the troops in!"

The servant hurriedly passed on the message. Lu Tingxiang looked at the mess in Chongwu Courtyard with a gloomy face. Seeing this, Sikong Zhu couldn't help but cough twice and asked in a low voice: "Sir, the government has always disliked people forming gangs in the underworld. Do you want to let the distinguished guests leave for a while..."

"No need!" Before Si Kongzhu could finish his words, Lu Tingxiang suppressed his anger and said coldly, "No one needs to avoid me today. These are my guests. I don't think anyone dares to embarrass them!"

Si Kong Zhu was slightly stunned, then turned around and bowed to everyone, saying: "Everyone, please be patient. Today's incident disturbed you all. It is my Lu Mansion who failed to treat you well. In the future, my Lu Mansion will come to your door to apologize!"

Seeing that the Jiangnan Lu Mansion was in constant trouble today, everyone was reluctant to blame them too much and returned the greetings to Sikong Zhu.

"Who is the head of your house?"

As everyone was whispering, a deep and deep voice suddenly sounded outside the courtyard, followed by three or five panicked servants from the Lu Mansion, leading dozens of people who looked like officers and soldiers in.

The leader was a man in his thirties, wearing armor, holding a sword, and a short sword on his waist. He had big eyes, a big nose, and a big mouth. His dark face was as rough and pitted as sandpaper. His forehead was unusually full, and his beard was thick and dense. Although he was not tall and strong, he was very strong. He walked with a strong momentum, his feet were turned outward, but his arms did not swing with him. He lowered his head slightly, as if he was staring at the ground all the time. Even when he looked at people, he would lift his eyelids and look at them. Just by looking at his appearance, you can tell that he is not a good person.

As soon as this group of officers and soldiers came in, they saw hundreds of martial artists gathered in the courtyard. The sturdy man leading the troops was stunned at first, then he drew out his official sword with a "swish", looked around at everyone vigilantly, and shouted: "Why are there so many people carrying weapons in the Lu Mansion? What are you gathering here for?" Seeing this, the dozens of officers and soldiers following behind him also drew out their swords, watching everyone with a fierce look.

"Who are you? Why are you bringing so many soldiers to my Lu Mansion?" Sikong Zhu shouted in a deep voice.

"Are you the head of this mansion?" The sturdy man stared at Sikong Zhu with ill intentions. "I am Feng Tianba, the newly transferred commander of the Quanzhou camp. You haven't answered my question just now. Who are these people?"

"Humph!"

Without waiting for Sikong Zhu to answer, Lu Tingxiang suddenly sneered with disdain and said sarcastically: "Feng Tianba? A good imperial lieutenant actually took the name of a street thug. How shameful!"

"What did you say?" Feng Tianba turned his fierce eyes towards Lu Tingxiang and asked, "Who are you?"

"How dare you!" the Lu Mansion guards shouted, "This is the head of the Lu Mansion. How can he allow you to order him around?"

"The head of the Lu family?" Feng Tianba stared at Lu Tingxiang meaningfully and sneered, "So you are the famous Lu Tingxiang. I thought you were such a great person, but it turns out you are just a pretty boy. Meeting you in person is really not as good as hearing about you."

Lu Tingxiang's eyes suddenly condensed, and a bone-chilling chill rushed straight to Feng Tianba, and he said faintly: "Captain Feng, you may not know much about this place since you have just arrived. You should be careful with what you say in Quanzhou, so as not to cause trouble."

Feng Tianba was startled and said angrily: "How dare you threaten me..."

"Even if all of you came here, you wouldn't dare to talk to me like this. Who do you think you are?"

It was not known whether it was because of what had just happened that he was holding back a grudge, but at this moment Lu Tingxiang had completely changed his previous elegant and graceful appearance. He suddenly interrupted Feng Tianba angrily before he could finish his words. The volume of his voice, the fierceness of his aura, the harshness of his tone, and his rude attitude were all unprecedented, which not only frightened Feng Tianba, but also surprised all the people in the martial arts world present.

"you……"

"Captain Feng!"

Before Feng Tianba could get angry, a cold and old voice suddenly came from behind him, and then an old man in official clothes and eight people dressed as constables walked into the yard.

"Lord Li?" Feng Tianba was stunned when he saw the old man, then he quickly kowtowed and said, "General Feng Tianba greets Lord Zhizhou."

The visitor was none other than the local prefect, Li Ji.

Li Ji ignored Feng Tianba and bowed to Lu Tingxiang first, then asked angrily, "Captain Feng, why are you here instead of training in the army?"

"Your Excellency, I have received a secret report that someone in the Lu Mansion has formed a gang, killed people for money, and even privately manufactured gunpowder to plot a rebellion." Feng Tianba replied respectfully, "So I brought some people..."

"Have you informed the commander-in-chief before you mobilized troops without authorization?" Li Ji asked without waiting for Feng Tianba to finish his words.

Feng Tianba hesitated for a moment before speaking: "The commander-in-chief has been at the Privy Council for several days and has not returned. I see that the situation is urgent, so... I have dispatched troops to surround this place first and capture the criminal. I will then question the commander-in-chief after he returns."

"This is ridiculous!" Li Ji said angrily. "Even if someone violated the criminal law of the Song Dynasty, it is my office's job to arrest and punish them. When will it be your turn as a captain to overstep your authority?"

"But……"

"No buts, quickly order your people to withdraw!" Li Ji waved his hand and said, "Quanzhou is a rich place in the south of the Yangtze River, where the people live in peace and prosperity. How can you march through the streets with hundreds of soldiers in such a grand manner today? You must know that rumors are terrible. If the court knew that this incident caused the people of Quanzhou and even the south of the Yangtze River to panic and cause a civil uprising, I wonder how you will explain it to the Privy Council!"

Feng Tianba was not a fool either. He had clearly heard the implication of "forming a clique for personal gain" from Li Ji's words. He first looked up at Li Ji, then turned to look at Lu Tingxiang who had a cold face. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly heard a woman crying behind the crowd.

Feng Tianba frowned and walked towards the back of the crowd without waiting for Li Ji to stop him. He saw a corpse with a very tragic death lying on an open space behind him, and next to the corpse there was a woman lying on the ground crying bitterly.

The corpse was exactly Mo Cen who had just died tragically at the hands of the man in black.

"How dare someone commit murder in broad daylight?" Feng Tianba's eyes widened as he was about to step forward to see what was going on, but Liu Xunyi suddenly blocked his way. Liu Xunyi was holding Mo Cen's baby in her arms, and for some reason her eyes were red at this moment, her face was cold, and there was an indescribable coldness in her bones.

"Get out of the way!" Feng Tianba pointed his official sword at Liu Xunyi and said angrily.

In response to Feng Tianba's scolding, Liu Xunyi said nothing, but did not move either, still staring at Feng Tianba with an expressionless face.

"Xunyi, this is someone else's family affair. Everything will be decided by Mr. Lu. Don't interfere." Deng Changchuan said in a deep voice.

After a while, Liu Xunyi slowly turned around and walked away, but when he made way, the corpse lying on the ground and the crying woman had all disappeared, leaving only a large pool of blood on the ground.

"Where are the people?" Feng Tianba asked in surprise.

"Who is it?" Li Ji came forward with an unhappy look on his face, pointing at Feng Tianba, "Captain Feng, the Lu family is a famous family in Quanzhou, and today's guests are all well-known figures, you'd better show some mercy to everyone." After that, Li Ji stepped forward and whispered to Feng Tianba, "Captain Feng used to make great achievements at the border, and finally came to the rich land of Jiangnan to enjoy a peaceful life. Why bother yourself? Do you know that Master Lu can send you back to where you came from with just one word? Don't be ungrateful."

Feng Tianba seemed to have not expected that Li Ji would say such a thing so openly, and was so surprised that he was speechless. Li Ji saw this and said with a half-smile: "It doesn't matter if you don't understand now, you will understand in the future. You can deny me face, but you can't deny the face of the governor, right?"

"What do you mean?" Feng Tianba asked with a frown.

Li Ji smiled without saying anything. He reached out and grabbed Feng Tianba's arm and walked back to Lu Tingxiang. He said with a smile: "Captain Feng, I almost forgot to introduce you. This Mr. Lu is the cousin of the commander-in-chief of the Quanzhou camp. So, Captain Feng, today the flood has flushed the Dragon King Temple. Family members don't recognize family members, haha..."

"Cousin..." Feng Tianba had just arrived and had never expected the water in Quanzhou to be so deep. He was surprised and said, "That means here..."

"This is the hometown of the commander-in-chief. It's not a secret. It's just that Commander Feng has only been in Quanzhou for a short time, so he doesn't know much about it yet." Li Ji nodded.

After that, Li Ji ignored Feng Tianba's surprise and turned to Lu Tingxiang, bowing and smiling, "Mr. Lu, today is just a misunderstanding. I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" After that, Li Ji ordered Feng Tianba without turning his head, "Captain Feng, why don't you take your people away quickly?"

"Wait a minute!" Lu Tingxiang suddenly spoke, and when Feng Tianba and Li Ji looked at him in confusion, Lu Tingxiang suddenly waved his hand and said, "It's okay, you can go!"

Lu Tingxiang's strange behavior made Luo Tianjin frown slightly, but he didn't say much.

In less than a cup of tea, Feng Tianba, unwilling to give up, led his troops to leave Lu's residence under Li Ji's repeated urging. Everyone in the martial arts arena was silent, as if they were waiting for Lu Tingxiang to make an explanation.

"It's just a misunderstanding." Lu Tingxiang said softly with a tired voice, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you all! Come, go and collect Senior Mo Cen's body first and bury it with dignity another day." Following Lu Tingxiang's words, everyone turned their eyes to the corner of the martial arts field, where Mo Cen's wife had collapsed beside the body due to crying. The crowd couldn't help but let out helpless sighs.

"and many more!"

Before the servants of the Lu Mansion came forward to collect the body, Liu Xunyi suddenly spoke. Under the suspicious gazes of everyone, he held the baby in his arms and walked slowly to Mo Cen's wife with grief and anger in his eyes. Mo Cen's wife had been immersed in the pain of losing her husband. At this moment, she suddenly realized that she had her child and hurriedly reached out to take the baby, but Liu Xunyi stood there quietly without moving, and seemed to have no intention of returning the baby to her.

"Give my Hu'er back to me, give it back to me..." Mo Cen's wife stood up tremblingly and staggered to Liu Xunyi. When she looked at Liu Xunyi anxiously, she saw that two lines of tears had silently flowed down Liu Xunyi's face.

Mo Cen's wife seemed to have anticipated something. She first shook her head with tears in her eyes, and then cried like crazy and snatched her child from Liu Xunyi's arms. But when she held the baby in her arms again, the baby's body was already cold.

In fact, the baby has died the moment it leaves its mother's arms.

"what!"

There is no greater sorrow than a dead heart. In a blink of an eye, she had parted with her husband and son, and how could ordinary people understand this feeling? The woman's helpless cries and wails became the only sound in the martial arts field. Although these people in the martial arts world had long been accustomed to fighting, killing, life and death, this scene today still deeply touched them. The lonely and helpless woman in front of them was particularly pitiful.

“They even refused to let go of innocent children!” Liu Xunyi’s red eyes were filled with tears of compassion. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. This was the first time in his life that he had such a strong desire to kill. It was also the first time that he wanted to kill someone with his own hands. “How could there be someone in this world who is so cruel… How could…”

"Ma'am, don't!"

With a scream, Mo Cen's wife found a piece of wood from somewhere. Before everyone could wake up from their thoughts, she had already inserted the piece of wood into her heart with her own hands, and collapsed on Mo Cen, holding her child, crying.

"Boom!"

A clear golden sound rang out in the martial arts field, and the golden basin used for washing hands was knocked to the ground by someone. Half of the basin's clear water, mixed with the blood of Mo Cen's family of three, flowed quietly under everyone's feet.

To this day, everyone still clearly remembers the moment when Mo Cen's family of three stepped out of Chongwu Hall. Their faces were filled with relief for the past and infinite expectations for the future.

It’s a pity that the grudges and hatred were not resolved in time, and the golden basin was poured out.

……

(End of this chapter)